Silent Burden
by Saber Wing
Summary: Vegeta is plagued by a hellish nightmare from the past, and Bulma tries to get him to open up to her about it. Vegeta x Bulma. Takes place several years after the defeat of Majin Buu.


_**Authors Note: **_This is just a short oneshot about a nightmare Vegeta has concerning his past, and Bulma's attempt to get him to open up more. I little bit of romance, that isn't shown between them often enough for my taste. If you read the summary, you already know that, but whatever. The story begins in Vegeta's nightmare, and progresses from there. He is dreaming about his father's death, and the destruction of the saiyan planet, which he has never seen with his own eyes before now. That's what makes it so terrifying. This does contain spoilers. If you have never seen what happened to King Vegeta, and the Saiyan planet and you don't want it spoiled for you, don't read this. Anyway, I don't own Dragonball Z, or the characters. On with the story!

**Silent Burden**

**By: Angel Wings-008**

They ran in the shadows, many footfalls of the elite echoing in the vast corridor of Frieza's spaceship. King Vegeta stood at the front of the proud group of saiyans, giving orders to his followers with silent determination.

"Some of you, go! Take that way!" shouted the king to his soldiers, signaling for a group of his elite's to head in a different direction. And so, they ran on, the King in the lead, but before long, dozens of Frieza's crewman stood in their way, each brandishing a deadly gun. "There they are!" one of the crewman uttered, holding his gun in front of him threateningly.

Before anyone else could make the first move, King Vegeta sprang forward and punched the crewman who had threatened him, shots from the lethal guns ringing out among the crowd. Kicking the same man who had first stood against him, he started forward as the crewman threw themselves at him, hanging onto his cape, his legs, anything they could grab to deter the King of all Saiyans from his course. They crowded tightly around him, piling on top of the proud King, as two others pointed their guns at him, preparing to take a killing shot. Just when it seemed the bullets would spring forth and tear into his flesh, he pushed them all out of his way with ease, extending his left hand to shoot one final blast, incinerating all who stood in the way.

Below, Zarbon and Dodoria looked up in surprise, puzzlement clear on their blue and pink faces. The spaceship shook with the aftermath of the violence, spilling a bit of the red wine Frieza held in his hand. "Why, those nasty monkeys!" he uttered in contempt, a look of disgust on his oddly feminine face. "Zarbon. Go ahead and open my door. Vegeta wanted an audience with me, and that's what he's going to get!" shouted the tyrant.

"Right," Zarbon murmured in a soft voice, giving a little bow as he turned to open the door as he'd been instructed.

"This is no way for guests on my ship to behave!" Frieza yelled, standing up as he did so. All of a sudden, more blasts were heard, and King Vegeta stepped through the doorway leading to the tyrant's room, scattering the dust and debris in his wake.

"Frieza! We have some business!" King Vegeta shouted, as he watched the doorway leading to Frieza open to let him inside. There he stood, standing in the doorway with a smile on his face, as if he awaited this meeting with great anticipation.

"It's over Frieza! We've come to put an end to your reign of terror!" King Vegeta said, clenching his fists tightly at his sides.

"We? You and who else, Vegeta? Your army is so petrified they're actually turning blue in the face!" Frieza replied, sarcasm and amusement thick in his tone.

"Hm?" King Vegeta grumbled, turning to gaze upon his army of elite's, who, to his irritation, were indeed blue in the face. "Grr! Fools!" he shouted, throwing a punch aimed at Frieza's head. The powerful tyrant smiled an evil little smile, openly showing his amusement and glee. He dodged the punch that was thrown at him with ease, as the King stared on, fury and shock contorting his features into that of a feral beast. Shooting quickly back, he aimed another punch at Frieza, who once again avoided it without the slightest exertion and raised his own fist to strike the Saiyan King in the chin. The punch sent the King flying back, and he crashed to the floor, unmoving, blood running in rivulets down his skull. His eyes, white and unseeing, remained open and staring into nothingness, blank in the eternal slumber that is death. The black gem encrusted symbol of royalty and strength fell from the neck of the once proud King, clattering to a stop at Frieza's feet as if to signify the fall of the Saiyan.

"The King! No!" One of the elite's shouted in horror, moving with all the others to gather the fallen King in their arms.

"My, my, what a pity," Frieza uttered, crushing the valuable symbol beneath his foot. "Don't be so glum guys. You haven't lost your king for good. Wherever he is, you're about to join him!" His gaze ran over the grief stricken soldiers once more before he took off the scouter he wore, using his eyes to unleash a powerful blast at the band of the Saiyan elite. Screams of agony rang out for an instant, and a blinding light obscured the room in a rose colored flash. No more were the best warriors of the Saiyan race, their lives snuffed out by a single blast from the terrifying alien who strove to conquer the galaxy. The blinding light cleared, and all trace of the many lives was gone, leaving not a single ash of the saiyans who had once stood there.

"I say we torch the whole barrel of monkeys, how about it, Zarbon?" Frieza asked his advisor.

"Is it necessary now that Vegeta's out of the way?"

"Yes. Because when one revolts, the others are sure to follow. You know. Monkey see, monkey do!" Frieza said, earning a startled look from Zarbon.

"I suppose you know best," he replied, turning towards the viewport with Frieza to observe the many soldiers floating out in space, Saiyan and other races alike.

"Just look at all those lost sheep. Waiting for the good news from their king," seethed Frieza, looking out at them all. Walking forward, he sat in his chair and opened the top of the ship that was above his head, raising himself out into space among the waiting soldiers. With an ice cold smile and the laugh of a madman, he raised a finger and gathered a deadly blast of golden energy, the lethal ball growing rapidly by the second. Laughing even harder in horrific delight, he sent the blast rushing toward planet Vegeta and the soldiers who soared near it.

"What? No!" a Saiyan screamed in disbelief and dread, while not far off, a screaming Bardock stretched straight in front of the blast. His eyes stretched wide in terror and dread, as he realized his horrifying vision had come true, despite the efforts he'd taken to prevent it. The screams of dying men, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air, creating a repugnant miasma that none could hope to escape from. Frieza laughed and laughed through it all, especially as the fatal blast struck the core of the planet and engulfed it in flames, debris flying in every direction.

"Oh my! This is stupendous! Wow! What a great show! Unbelievable, just look at that! Ahahahaha!" Frieza shrieked in delight, as the giant ball of flame exploded in a massive display of power, taking the greatest warrior race along with it. All of space and the stars themselves were blocked out in an instant, obscured in a horrific yellow light.

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Vegeta woke with a start, shooting straight up in bed as he barely suppressed the scream that rose in his throat. Panting as if exhausted, he rubbed his face with his hands, as if trying to wash away the images he still saw. Feeling a touch on his shoulder, he swung his fist toward the movement, startled. Bulma shrieked and jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding the fist that sped toward her.

"Vegeta, stop, it's me!" Bulma shouted, voice cracking with anger and fear. "Kami, you almost hit me!"

"Sorry," he grumbled, which only made Bulma worry about him more.

"Sorry? Did you just say you were sorry? Okay, now I'm really freaked out. What's wrong honey? Did you have a nightmare?"

"Never you mind woman," mumbled Vegeta, sweating bullets and still trying to catch his breath. "It's not your problem. This is my burden, and I must bear it alone. In silence."

Bulma sighed and shook her head in disgust. "You men are all the same...You all think you're too tough to share your feelings with anyone! I understand you want to keep your pride Vegeta, but it's okay to talk to me about how you feel. I won't tell anyone."

"I'm a warrior! I don't have feelings," Vegeta grumbled, turning away from her to hide his expression.

"Bullshit," she said, gently taking both of his arms and turning him to face her. "You may be able to fool everyone else Vegeta, but you can't fool me. I know you better than you know yourself. Please, talk to me. It's just the two of us here. I'm your wife. We should share things like this," she finished in a voice filled with pleading.

The saiyan prince smirked and chuckled in false amusement. "Lucky for you, my father never taught me to share."

"I'm serious! This is not funny! I can tell by the look on your face that whatever you saw was terrible. Come on Vegeta. Couldn't you, for once in your life, let some one help you! I...I love you. And I can't stand to see you bear these painful things alone!" Bulma yelled, unshed tears shining in her bright blue eyes. Taking his hand in hers, she stared into his handsome face, silently pleading with him to let her into his hardened heart.

Vegeta sighed in exasperation, and finally shifted his eyes up to meet her gaze. "You're not going to leave me alone until I tell you are you?" he questioned, though he already knew the answer.

"Nope. Sorry your majesty, but you're stuck with me," Bulma replied, not sounding the least bit sorry.

"Fine, If it'll get you to shut up! I saw my father die, okay! Are you happy now?!" the prince screamed, scowling and shifting his eyes downward to stare at the covers on the bed.

Bulma gasped and put her hand up to her mouth, next reaching out to caress his cheek comfortingly. "Oh Vegeta..."

"That's not all. I saw everything! My father's death, planet Vegeta's explosion, everything! Damn that Frieza!! He was laughing the whole time. He'd just exterminated an entire race and he was laughing! Grr! I don't know why I'm surprised by that. That son of a bitch lived to destroy!"

"Frieza was an ugly lunatic, that's what he was! Oh I swear, if I ever saw him again...!" Bulma started, causing Vegeta to chuckle in amusement from her empty threat.

"What could you do? He'd murder you with ease."

"Yeah, well...I'd sure as hell make him hurt! After what he put you through!" she shouted, tiny fists clenched in fury. A small smile gradually grew on the prince's face, who seemed to be touched by her anger for him.

"I'm sure you would. No one can scream quite as loud as you do when you're trying to force me to stop training," he said, smirking once again, as Bulma smacked him playfully, giggling. Vegeta shook his head, still wearing that small smile, but after a few seconds, it faded to nothing, and he sat back and leaned his head against the wall, staring intensely up at the ceiling, deep in thought. Just as Bulma was beginning to think he wouldn't speak again, he did speak to her, in an uncharacteristically soft voice.

"It's not as if he was a good man. My father was a brutal man, make no mistake of that. But he was a saint compared to Frieza. You know, he never once told me he cared about me. Haha, of course he wouldn't! It's laughable just thinking about it. All he ever gave me was cold indifference, and a name. But I worshiped him. And what did he do? Just handed me off to Frieza without so much as a fight. Instead, he waits to make his move, and dies anyway. What was the point of it all! Nothing could have made a difference!"

"Of course it was wrong of him to hand you to Frieza, but really, what if he had fought for you at that moment? He would have died anyway, and you still would've ended up with Frieza. And in the end, maybe he did try to save you."

"What do you mean?" Vegeta asked, confusion and suspicion in his expression.

"Think about it. He could have just blown up Frieza's ship just to spite him, but he didn't because he knew you were on it. If he didn't care about you, don't you think he would have just blown up the ship and had all of his men attack at once? That way, he wouldn't have had to take a select group. It would've been the entire planet fighting against him. But instead, he chose to try to save you by keeping the ship intact," she replied, sounding very proud of her logic.

Vegeta sat up and just stared at her, not knowing what to say. His mouth slightly ajar, he blinked rapidly, finally shaking his head in an attempt to clear it. "It...That can't be right!" he sputtered. He'd hated his father for the longest time, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let go of that now. But damn it, why did she have to make so much sense all the time?!

"I'm right and you know it," Bulma said, smirking herself now.

"Uh...Gah! Whatever! Will you shut up and go to sleep now?!" Vegeta yelled, crossing his arms and jerking his head away in frustration.

"He didn't abandon you Vegeta. And I won't either. You can always talk to me if you need to. I know you probably won't but if you ever want to, I'll be here," she said, gazing at her prince with unfathomable love shining in her eyes.

Vegeta gazed back with love in his own. No matter how part of him still screamed not to show his love for her, he just couldn't help but give her the same affection she gave him. Part of him would always want to hold back, Vegeta knew that. But maybe, just maybe, he could overcome it. For her, his growing family, and maybe, eventually, for himself.

"Is that a promise, or a threat?" asked Vegeta, humor shining in his eyes.

Bulma smiled at him and said in her most seductive voice, "Which would you prefer, my prince?" Taking his face in her hands, she kissed him as if he were a long lost lover she hadn't seen in years, and the rest is, as they say, hot, steamy, history.

Needless to say, he had no more nightmares that night.

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Well, that's it! I think it turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself, though even I was surprised by the ending. Hehe...Just couldn't help myself...Anyway, reviews are appreciated! Thanks for reading!


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